"I really don`t understand. It`s like a disaster which befell on me," Hari Sabarno who is a retired military general saidJakarta (ANTARA News) - Former home affairs minister Hari Sabarno questioned his naming as a suspect in an alleged corruption case in the procurement of fire trucks (damkar) for several regions.
"The case has been raised since four years ago. If I meet the requirements to be a suspect, why was I not named a suspect since the beginning," the former home affairs minister said after being grilled at the office of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) here on Thursday.
He said he did not understand the mistake he had made that led him to be named a suspect. What he knew he said was he was mentioned to have been involved in the cooperation for the procurement process of the damkar trucks.
"I really don`t understand. It`s like a disaster which befell on me," Hari Sabarno who is a retired military general said.
He said that the KPK investigators had questioned him about his alleged involvement in the procurement of the damkar trucks.
"If they suspected me to have cooperated with Hengky Samuel Daud and Oentarto, why was I not named a suspect together with them at that time, so that cross checks could be made?. Now the business partner has died," he said.
He said he did not know what was behind his naming as a suspect. "I don`t know what indication it had," he added.
Hari Sabarno has been named a suspect in the alleged damkar corruption case since September 10, 2010 by the KPK.
"At its investigation, the KPK found two pieces of initial evidence which were enough reasons to raise the status of the alleged corruption case from examination level to investigation level," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said.
The damkar case has involved a number of officials such as former Riau Islands governor Ismet Abdullah and former director general for regional autonomy Oentarto Sindung Marwardi.
Ismet was sentenced to two years imprisonment with a fine of Rp100 million while Oentarto got three years in jail with a fine of Rp100 million.
The KPK has been investigating the case since 2006. It began with the radiogram of home affairs ministry during Sabarno`s era.
Through the radiogram the ministry asked regional government heads to purchase damkar trucks with certain types already specified.
The radiogram which was signed by Oentaro assigned PT Istana Sarana Raya owned by Hengky Samuel Daud as a partner. Daud was sentenced to 15 years but died later.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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